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Applied physics

Bright electron twisters

Nature volume 509, pages 37–38 (2014)Cite this article

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A new holographic method has been used to convert ordinary electron beams into helical beams. These beams show promise in applications such as the spectroscopic analysis of materials with intrinsic handedness and nanoparticle manipulation.

Electron vortex beams, also known as electron twisters, are quantum waves of electrons that have a rotational motion akin to that of the notional electron clouds orbiting atomic nuclei — except that there is no central Coulomb force to hold the electrons, so the quantum wave can travel along its axis of propagation as it rotates. These beams remained a theoretical novelty1 until their experimental demonstration four years ago2,3,4. They have many interesting physical properties, including potentially high magnetic moments and their interaction with matter and electromagnetic fields5. To investigate them experimentally, the beams must be bright. In a paper published in Applied Physics Letters, Grillo et al.6 show how this can be achieved.

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Figure 1: Converting wavefronts.

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  1. Jun Yuan is in the Department of Physics, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.,

    Jun Yuan

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  1. Jun Yuan
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Correspondence to Jun Yuan.

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Yuan, J. Bright electron twisters. Nature 509, 37–38 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/509037a

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